Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-02-21
sKEPTTCS LAY THE SP00K
GHOST TKIrs 10 WALK OFF
WITH n 500 PRIZE.

E.O Y.
.,turo Cayorting About In Sailor
-. rorcery-Prying Open the Eyes
oFthe Spiritualists.
last summer when the Southern Spir'
,,rslists' Association had It's camp meet
ina IN Lookout Mountain, Tenn. the
,,,or whom the New York W orld ex.
,.osas IA detailed below, was present and
so,rjv made the Spiritual1sts wild with
hor CONGRATULATIONS. Now that she has
hoon shown to be fraud they will doubt.
1sss wish they had the money they poured
mto ber exchequer. The World says:
Ren,amin r. Pegram began the mis-
cbief He is an elderly gentleman who has
lied up a great many dollars by Jud1clous
management of large western ramon
md heavy Touring business in this
,o~n He has long attended the meet
in,s If the First Splritualist Society OF
New York and heard with constantly
rrowine wonder the weird discourses
eT5ich are poured forth every Sunday
morning and evening in the Grand Opera
House. Nearly every member of the 30
cietv will tell you that he doesn't believe
IN the naturalization of spirits and that
he is only waiting around In careless,
identical way to see ii the thing really
can be done. SJill, every medium who
comes along and offers to make the ghost
waIk-not the theatrical ghost, but sure
enough Spirits apt to have good hear
ing and reap pretty harvest of dollars.
When the World ruthlessly exposed the
queer tricks of the Caffreys last su miner
there was at first great deal OF heart
hurning among the members OF the So
ciety. Then they all said to one another,
"Ot course the Caffreys are frauds. We
knew il from the first" Times were dull
around the society's headquarters for a
month or more after that. Not that the
splriting blood was chilled in the veins of
the mediums, but because there was no
man to bid them materiallZe for cash.
Things were going on in this dull way
when Benjamin r. Pegram got up in
meeting one Sunday morning and initlat-
cd the mischief. ''Pll give $780," he said,
$50 any medium who will materialize
spirits under test conditions arranged by
committee OF six to be appointed by the
sOciety'' There were loud murmurs of
approval, and from the midst OF them
came woman's voice, saying, cpl give
$50 more," and then voices of several men
VINO offered to add sums ranging from $40
TO 500 to Mr.. Pegram's prize.
Mr.. Henry j. Newton, President of the
society, was ex-Otficio chairman of the
committee, and he appointed Mr.. Thomas
s. Tice, Mr.. William K. Tice and three
others, who were not prominent in what
followed, to act with him. The sympa-
thetic people in the crowd who offered to
chip in with Mr.. Pegram did not materi-
alize, but he put his money in the hands
of the committee and so everything was
ready except the medium who was TO
make the ghost walk to the pleasing tune
of 500. At first none of the mediums of
lie a ali 1aI- .orI.
to make try for the prize. For more
than two weeks the challenge lay un-
touched. Then out came Mrs. Ella A.
Wells, a lone widow, at whose command
full many ghost has shown its face in a
dark parlor and many a spirit flower has
showered it's sweetness on the midnight
air. She declared she could and would
with ease cause the naturalization of
enough spirits to knock all the skepticism
out of Mr.. Benjamin X. Pegram. but as
for touching cen o. his paltry 500, far
be 1t from her! When he heard of this
the giver of the prize cbuckled softly unto
himself, as who should say, 'Lo, now, is
there not close at hand great store OF
fun for me?" But he answered nothing
to Mrs. Wells, save the remark that the
sooner she brought about the manifesto
tons the sooner somebody would get the
500.
Now, Henry j. Newton is a cultivated
and worthy gentleman of wealth who has
made deep researches in the field of spIr-
ltualistic lore. The mysteries OF the We
gas, the inscrutable wisdom of Brahma,
the veil of Isis and all the Memphian and
Eleusinian wonders, that have for ages
been sealed book to the truly good and
learned OF all countries, are to him as open
Is the pictures in the primer are to the
nriZn anhnOlhnu ta hio &c ~ aIx;I
as an instantaneous photographer, by
which he has several times made portraits
OF spirit forms as they lowered for mo-
ment IN his studio. BY his disposition
ana requirements he was pre-eminently
htted TO be chairman OF the test commit
tee' Lurking in the credulous, happy and
peaceful atmosphere of the committee
We're the suspicious Of William r. Tice.
MRS. Ross, Boston medium, had come
wlthin an ace OF hoodwinking him and
his VIE only short time ago and he was
on tne alert for chance to expose what
ne styled the naturalization fraud. Mel
ther Mrs. Wells nor the committee kne W
vi tnls, though, and preparations for the
pursuit and capture of the prize went on
Drlskly. Henry j. Newton's parlors were
seIected as the place for the trial. In them
senators, eminent clergymen and other
hoIed people have witnessed supernatural
Phenomena and gone on their way be-
HeVlng. or course no well-regulated spirit
nowadays would think OF drifting around
III lne open air or any other place without
having well-contrived cabinet to make
iIs earthly entrances from. How William
ohdkespeaRe ever managed to trot out the
enaue OF Hamlets father in the open air
oh cold night Is something that no mod
erh medium can fathom. Mrs. Wells
ArsI demand was for cabinet. The COM
mlltee brought an armful OF smoothly
p'aned white pine strips into MIR. New
.oh parlor one night, and Mrs. Wells
Alhuly went into trance, during which
tne friendly spirit of Sir Christopher Wren
VI some other architect came along and
Through herr bossed the Job OF getting up
scaDinet warranted TO give perfect salts.
iaction. When the ghosts and Mrs. Wells
hau nnlshed their part of the lob the COM
!nlttee found they had built light Frame
WORK ieet long, 6 feet high and 81 feet
wiue' This was draped on every side with
LICK plack cloth, leaving an opening only
~ tne 'front.', The medium was to sit
mlthln In darkness and send the spirits
noatlng out at will. 1t suited her per-
iecCy. Mr.. William II. Tice suggested
vi Improvement, which he said would
cast away all doubt as to the eenuineness
VI tne manifestations. He advised that
psSLtloh covered with strong shad-net
oe 30 paced as to divide the cabinet eX-
a ay IN half from the top to the floor.
NIs' Wells went into a trance and con-
suited her spirit architect. The spirit
SiS 90 did Mrs. Wells. So, at last,